


Stoke the Fire

by ohmytheon



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 18:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2742596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmytheon/pseuds/ohmytheon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Catelyn swears that she's not afraid of being bedded by her new lord husband. She swears she's not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stoke the Fire

It took everything in Catelyn’s power to not cover herself up somehow. She didn’t just feel exposed – she was exposed, completely and whole-heartedly, and she hated it. Every girl knew that she’d be in this position some day or another, but the fact that she had known about it beforehand did not make her feel any better. She still felt like her soul was out in the open, ready to be torn apart, and that every little move she made was going to be scrutinized and judged.

She would not be a woman here in this room. She would be something to be examined, looked over carefully. That made her incredibly nervous, and she fiddled with her fingers in front of, trying to cover herself up in some way, torn between the decisions to either sit down so she could cover herself up further or continue standing upright so that she would look confident and strong. Neither option sounded very good. What she truly wanted to do was wrap herself up in a robe and run out of the room, but she could not do that either. Part of her thought that they may have even locked the door behind her to ensure that she did not panic and try to leave.

Catching her pale reflection in the mirror, she could not help but lament. Would she be pleasing enough to the eyes? She thought of the scar on her left arm, the one she’d gotten from falling out of a tree when she was nine; the light splatter of freckles on her body, especially her chest; and the way that her cheeks seemed to be in a constant state of blushing. She could fill out a dress quite well, much to Lysa’s jealousy, but without anything on, she felt like she was proportioned awkwardly and did not know how to stand.

Oh, as much as she wanted to continue being alone and not face anything, the wait was almost unbearable. Could she not just get this over with?

Finally, the door began to open and Catelyn jumped a little, trying to figure out last minute what she should be doing. Of course she could think of nothing and she was just standing there, probably looking like a doe staring at the tip of an arrow, when her new lord husband Tywin Lannister stepped into the bedchamber and closed the door behind himself.

Tywin was still clothed, having not been forced to go through the bedding ceremony for a second time. She knew that he had been married once before, but she had died giving birth to his last son, just as her mother had done. Catelyn wanted so hard to be able to look him in the eyes, to show him that she was not afraid of a lion or any of her wifely duties, but the second his green eyes roved over her, she dropped her gaze to the floor and could not stop her cheeks from burning.

“My lord.” She couldn’t hold the words in her mouth any longer; she had to say something. The silence that had settled upon the room had been too much for her to take. She felt like there was a fire in her that could not be calmed down, making her tingle to the tips of her fingers and toes.

Still, Tywin said nothing. He merely looked at her, as if examining a piece of art he bought and trying to determine its worth. So far, he seemed somewhat…disappointed with what he’d got in the bargain for his loyalty in the war.

With the idea of his disappointment in her hanging in the air between them, Catelyn felt anger stoke the fire in her even further. She may have been insecure about herself, but she was not unworthy of his desire. She was only seven and ten, a young maiden, and she knew that she was at least pretty. He could have been paired with much worse. She might not have been his long lost love, but she was something. She was smart, well-read and versed in almost everything that came to mind. She was not some worthless thing.

Straightening her posture, anger and embarrassment swelling up inside of her, Catelyn tilted her chin upwards. “Am I as pleasing as you imagined, my lord?” she asked, practically taunting him, doing her best to not act like the young girl that she was. She was a woman grown. She would not show fear to the man before her, no matter how intimidating he was.

“You are…” But Tywin said nothing else, as if he could not think of the words. He only looked at her. There was something in them that she recognized from what felt like a distant memory, something that she had seen in many a man’s eyes but especially Brandon’s.

It had only ever mattered when Brandon looked at her like that. _“We shall be wed soon,”_ he would say as he kissed her deeply, _“and you will be mine.”_

Except she had never wed Brandon. They had been betrothed for three years until when the time finally came he died. Killed brutally in King’s Landing. And so she was here instead in Riverrun, not with the heir to Winterfell but with the lord of Casterly Rock. She would not be lady of the North, but of the Rock. She was a pawn, she knew, used to gain favor from the mighty Tywin Lannister so that they could win the war against the Iron Throne, but she would make the best of it. She had always made the best of things.

Tywin stepped towards her, just once, and she nearly stepped back from him. Everything in her screamed to move, but she held her ground. _Do not show fear,_ she ordered herself. _He will loathe fear in you._ She could tell that he was a man that despised craven people. He would not do well if his wife was fearful and jittery. She knew that her father had sold her as confident, a young woman that had conquered things beyond her age, and she had to act as such. She could not let her family down.

(But she knew nothing of this – nothing of this game. She had no experience beyond stolen, passionate kisses with Brandon here and there and even then that felt like it hadn’t even happened anymore.)

Catelyn stood very still as Tywin crossed the distance between them. She tried to even her breathing, tried to keep from trembling, tried not to look away, but it was so very difficult with a man as imposing as the Lord of Casterly Rock standing before her when she was completely nude.

When Tywin touched her cheek, Catelyn could not stop herself from jerking slightly. “You are afraid,” he stated.

“No,” she breathed out, sounding more stubborn than earnest.

“Afraid and beautiful,” Tywin said as his hand trailed from her cheek down her neck. “So you have never been with a man? Brandon Stark did not break you in?”

At this, Catelyn felt a flash of indignity and she could not stop herself from glaring at her husband. “I would have you not speak such indecencies of him. He would do no such thing.”

“He would not or you would not?” Tywin mused aloud, sounding almost amused. “I was told that you were an honorable girl.”

“I am a woman,” Catelyn retorted.

“All women are girls until they break have their maidenhead broken.”

Catelyn blushed. “A man’s….bedding of a woman does not make her who she is or a woman. Only she herself can do that.” She clenched her hands at her side, her nails digging into her palm, and willed herself not to slap her new husband. How dare he speak like this to her, as if she was barely a human? “I did my growing many years ago, long before we might tonight. I know that I am a woman grown. I do not need you or any other man to tell me that.”

There was a ghost of a smile on Tywin’s face, one that made it look almost as if he was…pleased. “And here I was told that you were obedient.”

“Being obedient does not mean being submissive.”

For a moment, nothing was said and they looked at one another. But then she felt his hand on her waist and Catelyn realized just how close he was to her now. She could see the gold flecks in his green eyes. _Of course he has gold in his eyes too._ His fingers dug into her skin on her hips, burning her as he pulled her close, pressing his body against hers. She gasped a little when his fingers grazed her breast and she felt him press against her, already hard with wanting. This was it. This was what she had been scared of the whole night.

“You’re trembling again,” he told her in a quiet voice.

“I’m not,” she mumbled, her eyes darting away from his, but she was lying. She had never lied so much in her life.

“Sit on the bed.”

Catelyn did as she was told, somewhat thankful. Her knees shook underneath her and she felt as if she might buckle from the pressure.

Tywin stood at her feet and put a finger under her chin, lifting it so that she would meet his eyes. “You would do well to not be afraid, Catelyn.”

“I’m not afraid,” she repeated.

Bending down to her level, their faces so close, Tywin said, “Then show me,” and then he kissed her.


End file.
